Lahore police have arrested a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporter for allegedly training people to carry out May 9-like violence during the party’s planned Sept 27 protest in the provincial capital.
According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Faisal Kamran, police officials on Sunday recovered audio recordings from the suspect’s mobile phone in which he allegedly discussed arranging 20 to 30 people for unrest in different parts of Lahore.
The suspect, identified as Amin, was arrested on Sept 26 after police received information about the alleged plan, Kamran said. He is from Sahiwal and works as a driver for the family of a PTI supporter identified by police as Fatima Haider.
Kamran added that Haider, whom Amin allegedly described in the recordings as a member of the PTI welfare wing, was also heard discussing the proposed training and preparations for the Sept 27 protest.
She had previously been booked in May 9 cases and was currently on bail, he said.
The DIG observed that the recordings indicated that the group was intended to create unrest resembling the violence witnessed on May 9.
Haider has not been arrested, while police had formed several teams to trace others allegedly involved in the plan.
Kamran also said investigators had recovered additional audio recordings from Amin’s phone containing what he described as further plans involving PTI supporters.
The allegations were rejected by PTI, with Punjab information secretary Shaukat Basra calling them part of a “vague narrative campaign” by the provincial government.
Speaking to media, Basra said the PTI had consistently maintained that its protests were peaceful and followed explicit instructions from party founder Imran Khan.
He demanded that police produce evidence to support the allegations.
Basra described the DIG’s account as a “white lie” and a “planted” allegation, while reiterating the PTI’s position that the May 9 violence was a “false-flag operation”.
